Highly-conductive Transparent Films Sputter-deposited under Water Vapor Atmosphere

铟锡氧化物（ITO）锉广泛用于液晶显示器件的透明电极等。本课题的目的是在水蒸气气氛下建立一种新的溅射沉积方法，在不加热基片的情况下获得高导电性透明薄膜。第一年（1989年），成功地完成了沉积参数的优化。第二年（20世纪90年代），计划通过沉积参数影响的生长机制来理解薄膜的性能。目前得到的结果如下：1)在没有水蒸气引入的情况下沉积厚膜时，膜中的载流子浓度降低，而在水蒸气气氛下沉积时，载流子浓度保持较高。2)水蒸气促进了晶体的生长，这解释了载流子迁移率的增加。3)上述1)和2)的实验数据偏差很大。4)薄膜的性能受衬底表面条件的显著影响。在实验之前，表面条件的影响从来没有被预测到。

Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) files are widely used for transparent electrodes of liquid crystal display device etc. The object of the present project is to establish a deposition process by a novel sputtering method under the atmosphere of water vapor to obtain highly-conductive transparent films without heating the substrates.In the first year (1989's), the optimization of the deposition parameters was successfully completed. In the second year (1990's), it was scheduled that the film properties be understood by the growth mechanism which was affected by the deposition parameters. The following results were obtained at the present :1) The carrier concentration in the film decreased when the thick films were deposited without water vapor introduction, while high carrier concentration was maintained when deposited under the atmosphere of water vapor.2) The water vapor enhanced the crystal growth which explains the increase of carrier mobility.3) The experimental data for the above mentioned 1) and 2) were extremely deviated.4) The film properties were influenced remarkably by the surface condition of the substrate. The influence of the surface condition had never been unpredicted before the experiments.